Anthony Richardson’s collapse has made one thing impossible to ignore: Chris Ballard’s role in getting the Colts here.
Indianapolis fans have already moved on to acceptance. The Richardson era is effectively finished, even if it technically still exists. Training camp has made that clear enough that, short of an injury to Riley Leonard, Richardson is going to need something extraordinary in preseason just to stay in the conversation.
Ballard takes heat for the pick, but the bigger issue is that the Richardson decision sits inside a much larger pattern. This is not a one-off mistake that can be isolated and explained away. It comes after missed playoffs, draft classes that never really delivered, and a decade-long search for a quarterback that still hasn’t produced the answer.
There are obvious defenses people reach for. Bryce Young and C.J.
Stroud were already gone. But the Colts were not operating in a vacuum, and the mess around the quarterback position stretches well beyond draft night.
Philip Rivers lasted one season. The Carson Wentz trade was a disaster.
Matt Ryan arrived with his tank completely empty. Even the decision to bring in Gardner Minshew as Richardson’s backup instead of keeping Ryan as a veteran presence raised eyebrows.
Ryan could have served as a steadying force while Richardson developed. Minshew, meanwhile, was fighting for his own spot in the league, which only added pressure.
Richardson was always billed as a project, but he was never supposed to be this raw. His accuracy has been among the worst this league has seen, and the injuries did not come out of nowhere either.
There was evidence of durability concerns in college. He had one season’s worth of games on his resume, and now he is one poor performance away from being cut.
The encouraging stretch lasted roughly 4.5 games, which is nowhere near enough for the No. 4 overall pick.
That is why this pick has a real chance to be remembered as one of the worst in franchise history.
And yet Ballard has kept skating by. Carlie Irsay-Gordon kept him on for another season, and plenty of fans still rush to defend him.
He has been blasted for drafting Richardson, sure. But the argument here is that the criticism should go further.
This was a call that reflected bad judgment and a shaky eye for NFL talent, and it has left the Colts stuck in acceptance a lot sooner than anyone wanted.
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Injuries also added another layer to the evaluation, since availability is part of the equation for rookies trying to carve out a spot. What stood out most was not just the box-score production, but the way certain players flashed versatility and seemed to make a case for a bigger role than anyone might have expected this early. If that trend holds through the rest of the preseason, the Colts could have a tougher time than planned narrowing down the roster. [Read more 🡒]